Of Loonies and Lions
by rhead-a-holyc
Summary: Years after the war, the nightmares and restlessness still haunted him. Harry/Luna


Harry's eyes closed briefly, before flickering open again as a wide yawn left his body. It was early morning, and he had been awake for what felt like forever. It had been three years since Voldemort's death, but the nightmares had continued as if nothing had changed. Within them, he was still hunted; he still lived in a fear he didn't want to remember, or relive.

He tried sleeping every night with a hope that the nightmares would finally end, that something he had done would calm his unconscious mind, and remove the fear that still lingered there. It never worked, though, as each night was the same: nothing changed, not even the forest around him. Every night just ended with him being more tired than the last, and Harry knew that he would not be able to survive as he was much longer.

A quick tempus told Harry that it was nearly time to wake up. He had survived yet another night, but Harry didn't need a glance in the mirror to know that the bags under his eyes, from the night before, had only deepened and darkened.

Hermione would surely scold him when she saw him, with Ron only watching helplessly with a look of concern. They both knew better than to interrupt Hermione when she was on a tirade.

Returning to Hogwarts after the war had been difficult. Everything had changed, even the walls of the rebuilt castle looked different. The memories and adventures he had within the walls were lost, fading through time as their fallible memories replaced them, and, despite wanting a normal life for as long as he could remember, everything was too mundane: the rivalry between the Houses had mellowed and the only interesting thing that happened within Hogwarts was one of the lower years sneaking in a prank from George's shop.

Harry had left Hogwarts without finishing his seventh year. Everything that he had been taught during that time had been interesting, but had also seemed so pointless with the Auror Department at the Ministry having already extended their invitation to him as they had to Hermione, Ron, and most of the surviving Dumbledore's Army. Ron had wanted to leave too, but Molly had vehemently refused to allow it. Molly had been upset with Harry for leaving his education unfinished, but after one look at him she had understood.

A sigh left Harry's body as the towel in his hands was dropped onto the back of his chair as he passed it. He was lost, more lost than he had been while searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes without a clue as to what they could be. Harry didn't know what he wanted anymore. He had wanted to be an Auror once, it had felt like something he had to do, something that would help him fight Voldemort, but Voldemort was gone now. The duty that he had felt towards becoming an Auror had disappeared with Voldemort's death.

Harry didn't want to continue the dance of hunter and hunted for the rest of his life, but he also knew that sitting behind a desk in the Ministry would not fulfil the sense of adventure and the desire for adrenaline that had been cultivated within him since his first meeting with the ex-Dark Lord. Harry wanted to find something that could fulfil both, and engross him enough that he would forget about his past.

Nothing had captured his attention. He had tried everything he could think of: curse breaking with Bill, apprenticing under a Potion Master (which had improved his potion-making skills considerably), working with Charms and Transfiguration Mistresses, attempting to learn Alchemy, even managing to get into Quidditch for a couple of months, but the spark he had felt when he played Quidditch in Hogwarts was gone.

"Harry?"

"Come in, Luna."

Luna had been the only other person to leave Hogwarts without her NEWTs. The Quibbler was under guidance after her father retired from it, and it had grown in popularity since the end of the war, now rivalling Witch Weekly in sales.

"Did you not manage to get any sleep again?"

Harry shook his head sheepishly.

"You really need to stop working so hard, Harry. Or Hermione will give me one of her tirades about how I'm overworking you." Luna gave him an unimpressed look before smiling again. "Breakfast is downstairs with a heating charm when you're ready for it. We're going to be having a day off because you work so hard. I can't be responsible for killing the first person I hired."

Harry could only watch as Luna spun around, skipping as she left his room again. He didn't think he would ever understand Luna. She, somehow, knew about his nightmares, yet waited for him to tell her about them. She didn't push like Molly, Hermione, or Ginny, would have, nor did she simply laugh the problem off like Ron. Luna's reaction to it was refreshing, and something he had never had before.

Perhaps that was why Harry had stayed within these walls for as long as he had. It had been six months since the Lovegoods had opened their home to him, six months since he had changed his mind to search for something else. The thought had yet to even cross his mind here. Everything within this house was calm and unrushed, as if time did not matter. Harry didn't know what day of the week it was, but that only calmed him, reminding him that there was no rush, no chase, and most importantly: no fear.

It wasn't long before Harry made his way to the kitchen, having taken a few moments to return his towel to the bathroom, walking around barefoot as the Lovegoods did.

"Morning, Harry. Have the nargles been keeping you up again?" Xenophilius, or Xeno as the man had insisted Harry call him, asked after a quick look up at him. Harry knew the man didn't need an answer, but offered him an agreeing murmur in exchange.

"Luna's waiting for you in the back when you're done. Don't rush, though. I don't think she'd be too upset if you gave her more time with the nymphs," the man winked with a smile. Harry couldn't help but laugh. Harry had never seen the nymphs personally, but had heard a lot about them from Luna. They strangely disappeared whenever he came close to them, but Harry never questioned it: there simply wasn't a need.

Harry waved as he left the house, getting a distracted reply in response. Luna was by the river, as she usually was.

"Harry! A herd of thestrals landed in the forest a couple of days ago. I thought we could go out to meet them." Luna held out a small basket that was in her hand, "There's some meat for them in here, with some food for us inside as well. Follow me!"

Luna had shown him every inch of the area surrounding the Lovegood home already, but she seemed to enjoy leading him everywhere as if he didn't know the place so Harry followed her without a complaint, as always.

The thestrals stood in a clearing that reminded Harry of the first time Luna had shown him a herd in Hogwarts. She was barefoot then too, except now Harry was too.

"Just as sane as I am, remember Luna?"

Luna laughed, causing the thestrals to snort as they glanced up for a moment. "I think that I'm a little more sane than you are, actually."

Harry gasped in mock outrage, nudging Luna on the shoulder, "I don't think many people would agree with you."

"Hermione and Ron would," Luna replied, eyes glinting with delight.

"Traitors."

"So you admit they would, too, then?"

"This is why I wasn't Sorted into Ravenclaw," Harry sighed, shaking his head as Luna laughed beside him.

A bony snout nudged his thigh, and Harry rubbed the small thestrals beak as Luna held out the bag for him to find some food for it. The thestral grabbed the piece of meat from Harry's hand before knocking into him, causing him to fall roughly and running halfway across the clearing to eat the meat. Harry glared as Luna managed to feed another thestral without being pushed over.

"You're cheating. Somehow."

"Admit it, Harry. I'm better at this than you."

"No," Harry determinedly took another piece of meat, only to be pushed over again by yet another thestral. He could hear Luna's tinkering laugh as she approached him.

"Not going to well, huh?"

"They just don't like me. Buckbeak liked me well enough."

"You're just making them think that you're going to steal their food. Come, I'll show you," Luna held her hand out to help Harry up, and showed him exactly how to feed the thestrals without them feeling the need to push him over again.

It was several hours later when they eventually got hungry enough to settle down and have their own lunch. The wind rustled the trees above them and the thestrals snorted only meters away from them as they lay on their backs looking at the blue sky.

Harry found the tiredness from the morning finally catching up to him as his eyes grew heavy. He struggled to keep them open, but Luna's rhythmic sighs on his right slowly eased him into a peaceful sleep that was, for once, as calm as the atmosphere around him.

 **Written for Nautical Ship Challenge: Loonies and Lions [Harry/Luna]**

 **Written for Race to Space Prompt Challenge: towel**

 **Written for Game of Life: nightmare**


End file.
